Love and Lepers Both Start With L
by Lady of the Spirit
Summary: She never stopped loving him. She didn't care if he was handsome or not, or if he was rich or not, or if he was cruel or not. But would she still care when he was the victim of this disease? Leper/OC. K plus for safety


**Love and Lepers Both Start With "L"**

**Yeah, not a good title, I know. **

Summary: She never stopped loving him. She didn't care if he was handsome or not, or if he was rich or not, or if he was cruel or not. But would she still care when he was the victim of this disease? Not a good summary either.

**Disclaimer: Don't own Princess Mononoke, fact of life. Only own Amaya and Yutaka the leper. **

She remembered the day they had met.

She had been taking a journey to the North, and had passed through a small town. She had stopped for rice, and had filled her bag with it. Unfortunately, she didn't have enough money to pay, so the merchant woman had ordered her to pay or she would have her arrested.

Then he had stepped in.

He had offered to pay, pulling out a small bag of coins and winking at the merchant, making the lady blush.

Later, she thanked him, and asked for his name.

He smiled at her, and she realized how lovely his eyes were.

_My name's Yutaka._

…

He remembered how he realized he loved her.

She had asked for his name, and he smiled and told her. She introduced herself without being asked.

_I'm Amaya._

One thing he liked about a woman was her self-confidence. And this woman was clearly confident, but not arrogant.

She had gotten on her horse, thanking him again, and he asked her where she was going.

_I'm trying to go north. I want to see the world._

Then she rode off. He had stood there, staring after her, until she disappeared into the forest.

Later, he returned home. His brother was visiting, and he always had good advice for him.

**You look like you've met a girl. **He said.

_I have._ Yutaka replied.

**Tell me everything.** It wasn't a request. Yutaka told him everything.

His brother had smiled at him, and laughed. When Yutaka asked him why he was laughing, his brother simply said,

**Sounds like the girl for you.**

Later, he realized that if his brother hadn't said that, he would have realized he loved her. He wouldn't have chased after her.

And he wouldn't have a constant pain in his chest.

…

She remember how he had chased after her.

She had travelled several miles north from the village. She had spent two days doing nothing but ride, stop to eat, and sleep.

She had just woken up. The sun was peeking out of the horizon.

She had dreamed about him again.

Just like last night, her dream was of the man from the town. In her dream, he had laughed at her jokes, smiled at her, hugged her, and she thought he was about to kiss her when she woke up.

_Why am I dreaming about him? Isn't thinking about him all day enough?_ She asked herself constantly.

She got up, put her bags back on her horse, and was about to hoist herself up on the animal, when she heard yelling.

_Wait! Wait, wait!_

She turned around, and saw the man running toward her, tripping over rocks, branches that had fallen to the ground, and scrambling over boulders to reach her.

She stared in amazement as the man ran across the forest floor towards her. She decided to spare him the extra metres, and walked toward him. He stopped running only when he was a few inches away from her.

_Hi._ He said, breathless.

_Nice to see you again._ She replied.

They just stared at each other for a few minutes, before he finally said, _I know this is going to sound odd, we just met and all that, but I would love it if came back to the town and stayed with me for a few days._

She stared at him. It was crazy. He was crazy. He asked her to stay with him for a few days, and they had only met in a parting.

She couldn't believe it when she said yes.

…

He remembered how he told her he loved her.

She had been living with him for a few days, which had turned into a few weeks.

She was out shopping, and would not return until much later.

He had decided to just tell her.

She returned, holding a basket full of food from the market, and began to make dinner. He stopped her. He said that he would make dinner.

She had been shocked.

Maybe he should help her with dinner more often.

He made leek soup, her favourite (he despised them).

He placed the bowl in front of her, and she had smiled and began eating.

He just fiddled with his fingers, watching her eat.

She asked him _why he wasn't eating._

He said _he wasn't hungry._

She asked him _why he made dinner for himself if he wasn't hungry._

He said _he had been hungry when he made it._

She said _that didn't make sense._

He said that _she didn't make sense._

She said _he was annoying._

He said _she was beautiful._

She was shocked by this.

He said that _he loved her._

She said that _she loved him._

They had kissed.

…

She remembered the day they found out he was ill.

She had noticed several skin lesions on his arm, and asked him about them. He said he was fine. He was so stubborn. That was one of the things she loved about him. Although annoying, it was something that made him _him_, and she loved him.

She knew something was wrong when she woke up and found that the rash had spread across his arm and onto his shoulder. He said that it was an allergic reaction to something in the forest.

They both knew something was wrong when the rash spread from his arm and shoulder to his neck and his waist.

They visited a healer, who told them that he had leprosy.

She had been shocked.

He had been horrified.

She was scared for him.

He was scared he would lose her.

He tried to find a cure. There wasn't one. They had waited too long to go to the healer. They couldn't cure it now, if they could have at the beginning.

The illness spread all over his body, covering his face with the cracks and the rash. His nose flattened, and he lost feeling in his hands and feet.

The people in the village shunned them both: Him for his illness, and her for still loving him despite his illness.

…

He remembered the day he left her.

He was stuck in his room, and she was downstairs eating lunch. He wasn't hungry.

He heard a commotion coming from outside. He got to his feet and walked over to the window, peering outside.

Standing in the center of town was a woman, probably not much older than him. She was dressed, oddly enough, in man's clothes, and she was surrounded by men dressed in orange and masks covering their faces except for their eyes.

_**Bring your lepers to me! **_She told the village._** Bring all of the people who are infected with this horrible disease.**_

The village had been shocked, but did as she requested. She had that effect on people; she could tell them to do something, they would do it.

Amaya appeared in his doorway. _Did you hear that?_ She asked. _Come on, it's worth a try._

He sighed and followed her out of the house.

She brought him to the woman, and she told the lepers to follow her.

They did.

She brought them to a river. And she washed their rotting flesh, without a trace of fear.

**(A/N** **Yeah, didn't really want to describe that part, sorry.)**

When she finished, she told them that her name was Lady Eboshi and that she was building a town far to the West from the village. She needed the lepers to help her build her guns. She said that they didn't have to come.

They all walked home that night, smiling for the first time in weeks.

Yutaka, on the other hand, was frowning in concentration.

He had two options.

Go to Lady Eboshi's Iron Town and help her build guns and be treated like a human by someone other than Amaya.

Stay here with Amaya and be treated like an outcast for the rest of his life.

Although the answer may seem obvious to you, he had to choose between two things he wanted. Amaya, or being treated like a human.

He thought about it long and hard as he fell asleep. Lady Eboshi would leave the next morning, so he had to make a decision by then.

He woke up at midnight, regretting what he was about to do. But he did it anyway.

…

She remembered waking up without him being there.

She had woken up, and gone upstairs to see if Yutaka was awake.

But he wasn't there.

The only thing left of him was his clothes, and a note he had left on his bed.

**Amaya, I love you. I do, I honestly do. But I can't let you live out your life in this dump of a house with a husband you can't be seen in public with. You deserve to be with a man that can make you smile just because he looks at you. I want you to be happy. I want you to live life to the fullest, not live life with a leper that you're not even married too. I love you. Yutaka. **

When she found the letter, she felt a million things at once.

Anger.

Betrayal.

Sadness.

But she moved past it. She had no idea where they were now, so she would move on, like the letter said.

But she would not move on from him. She loved him. That would never change. Nothing in the world would make her fall in love with someone else. She didn't care if he wasn't there. She loved him no matter where he was.

…

He remembered everything about her.

The slight crookedness of her smile. The way her ebony hair gleamed in the sunlight. The way her eyes glowed with happiness whenever she saw him.

He hated himself for what he did to her. But he knew it was necessary.

…

She remembered looking for him.

It was a year after he had left. She had been on a journey for weeks. She asked every traveller she met about Iron Town, and almost every single one of them were misleads.

To this day, she is convinced that the gods sent that monk to her.

She had been travelling for days, and she had run out of money to buy food. She couldn't eat anything in the woods because she didn't know the plants here. She was starving.

She had passed by a river, and to her surprise she was met with the sight of several men dressed in red and white monk clothing. The one that seemed to be the leader of the men gestured over for her to join them for dinner. She joined them without any hesitation.

As she stuffed the rice down her throat, she managed to ask between bites if they knew about an Iron Town.

The leader, who she found out later was named Jigo, said **Sure, we're going there ourselves. You're welcome to join us if you want.**

Again, she joined them without hesitation.

…

He remembered her finding him.

He had recently been healed by the Great Forest Spirit, and now looked like he ever had leprosy in his life. The other lepers were the same. Now they could all enjoy being in public without being stared at.

He was fixing one of the guns for Lady Eboshi. It kept jamming for some reason, and she requested he fix it. He could only do as she asked.

One of Gonza's servants appeared in the doorway. **Yutaka, you're needed.**

Yutaka sighed and got to his feet, handing the gun to Suki, one of the female former lepers. "Try and fix it while I'm gone, will you?" he asked her. She nodded.

He left the small hut built for the lepers, escorted to the town square.

_Why does Lady Eboshi need me?_ He asked the man.

**Lady Eboshi doesn't need you. **The man said. **Jigo's back, and he has something for you.**

_What is it? _He asked. The man didn't say anything, just stopped walking and told him to turn around.

Yutaka turned around.

Standing at the gate, arguing with Gonza, was Amaya. She hadn't noticed him yet, but he knew she would eventually.

He panicked. What was she doing here? Why was she here? He thought he had told her to move on.

She turned her head.

_Don't see me._

She saw him.

Her eyes widened. Her fist and her shoulders clenched, before she sprinted across the ground toward him. Before he was even aware of what he was doing, he started running to her.

They met. She flung her arms around his neck, kissing him on the mouth. He wrapped his arms around her waist, and he felt himself smile as they kissed.

As they separated, he asked her, _You didn't move on, did you?_

She said _No._

_I love you._

_I know. You're an idiot._

_I know. You're beautiful._

_I know. You're healed._

_I know._

_I love you._

_And I love you._

_**Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.**_

**This story is over!**

**Like it, love it, hate it, review it!**


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